Telescopic antennas are frequently used in automotive installations, and some of them utilize an electric motor to project an inner antenna rod from an outer telescopic antenna sleeve or tube. The outer telescopic antenna sleeve or tube may be recessed within the automotive vehicle or, itself, project from a portion of the vehicle, for example a fender. To project the telescopic antenna rod, it has been proposed to couple a toothed or geared flexible supply wire through the outer tubular element, and couple the teeth or gear elements on a flexible wire with a gear wheel, driven by the electric motor; upon rotation of the gear wheel, the flexible wire, which is threaded through the outer tubular element of the telescopic antenna, will then, selectively, project or retract the inner telescopic element. In the system described--known as the Hirschmann automatic antenna AUTA 6000 EL--a belt drive couples an electric motor with the gear which is in engagement with the toothed or geared portion of the flexible wire. The flexible wire is wound up in a wind-up space of a stationary wind-up drum when the antenna is intended to be retracted.